The present invention relates to a fitting structure for a connector capable of connecting a plurality of female terminals with a plurality of male terminals.
There is a connector provided integrally with a female terminal housing having a plurality of terminal receiving cavities each of which receives a respective one of a plurality of female terminals therein, and a male terminal housing retaining a plurality of male terminals to be connected to the plurality of corresponding female terminals (e.g., see JP-A-2010-40263). According to the connector, the plurality of male terminals are press-fitted into the housing to protrude in the terminal receiving cavities of the plurality of female terminals, and each of the plurality of female terminals is inserted into a respective one of the plurality of terminal receiving cavities, thereby connecting the female terminals with the corresponding male terminals. In particular, according to a connector disclosed in JP-A-2010-40263, each of a plurality of female terminals is formed in a tubular shape including a resiliently deformable contact member therein. A locking hole formed in one side of the tube is engaged with a lance which is formed on an inner wall of a terminal receiving cavity and which is made of a resilient member, thereby preventing the female terminal from being released. At the fitting position, a male terminal is electrically connected to the contact member of the corresponding female terminal through sliding contact.
Meanwhile, there is a connector provided separately with a female terminal housing having a plurality of terminal receiving cavities each of which receives a respective one of a plurality of female terminals therein, and a male terminal housing retaining a plurality of male terminals to be connected to the plurality of corresponding female terminals (e.g., see JP-A-2012-59565 and JP-A-2007-26769). According to the connector, the female terminal housing and the male terminal housing are fitted with each other, and the plurality of male terminals are connected to contact members of the plurality of corresponding female terminals through sliding contact.
In particular, in JP-A-2012-59565, in order to prevent the female terminal housing and the male terminal housing from chattering at the fitting, an inner peripheral surface of one of the housings is provided with ribs for preventing the chattering, which are extended in a insertion direction, at two positions, and an outer peripheral surface of the other of the housings is provided with grooves into which the ribs are inserted, at corresponding two positions.
In addition, JP-A-2007-26769 discloses a lock structure of capable of locking the female terminal housing and the male terminal housing in a fitted state. According to the structure, a male hood formed on a front end of the female terminal housing is provided on its outer surface with a locking hook, and an inner surface of a female hood to be capped with the male hood is provided with a locking concave portion to lock the locking hook. When the female terminal housing and the male terminal housing are fitted to each other, the locking hook of the male hood is engaged which and locked to the locking concave portion of the female hood.
However, the connector 1 disclosed in JP-A-2010-40263 lacks consideration for reduction in inserting force of the female terminals. That is, to insert the female terminal connected to a wiring up to a predetermined position in the terminal receiving cavity, the inserting force to slide and insert the male terminal to the predetermined position while bending the contact member of the female terminal is required, in addition to the resiliently deforming force to bend the lance. Since the inserting force is large, an operator carrying out the work of inserting the female terminal may finish the terminal inserting work, in spite of a half-insertion state, so that a defect occurs in the insertion of the female terminal.
Further, in the connector disclosed in JP-A-2010-40263, there is no problem in the case where the male and female housings are integrally formed. However, in the case where the female terminal housing and the male terminal housing are separately formed, it is necessary to prevent the chattering when the housings are fitted to each other, as disclosed in JP-A-2012-59565. That is, the chattering may happen in a fitting portion depending on a manufacturing tolerance between the male housing and the female housing. In this regard, as disclosed in JP-A-2012-59565, since an outer surface and an is inner surface of hoods to be fitted are provided with the ribs and the grooves, the chattering can be prevented in a direction perpendicular to a wall surface of the groove. JP-A-2012-59565 lacks consideration for prevention of the chattering in a direction parallel with the wall surface of the groove. Further, the rib has a shape to be easily deformed in the direction perpendicular to the wall surface of the groove of the groove.
In the case where the female terminal housing and the male terminal housing are separately formed, as disclosed in JP-A-2007-26769, the lock mechanism for locking the female terminal housing the male terminal housing in the state in which they are fitted is required. According to the lock mechanism disclosed in JP-A-2007-26769, the locking hook should be locked to or unlocked from the locking groove by pressing the female hood from the outer surface to bend the female hood. Therefore, since the whole female hood is necessarily deformed largely, there is a problem that the inserting force at the fitting and the releasing force at the releasing are large.